Education in the US is at a crossroads. In recent months the Trump administration has proposed to abolish the Department of Education, and has threatened to rescind federal grants to universities across the country unless they accede to its demands. Meanwhile public education continues to lose ground to charter and private schools, where unionization rates are much lower, as lawmakers consider providing vouchers and tax credits in the name of “school choice.” Teachers and professors at every level face increased precarity, lower pay, larger class sizes, and deteriorating work conditions, even as their political speech off the job comes under greater scrutiny.
The Independent Labor Club is therefore inviting educators at every level to discuss the following questions:
1. What are your current working conditions like as an educator? What are the challenges you face?
2. What is the quality of the educational product you are delivering? How could it be improved?
3. What is the function of education in our society as presently configured? What might it look like in a society that was organized differently?
Featuring:
Susannah Grossman, former private school teacher
Alexander King, Assistant Professor (The New School & NYU) | ACT-UAW 7902
Tom Quick, NYC DoE | United Federation of Teachers
MCR, charter school teacher
Lauren Wolfe, Brooklyn Institute for Social Research
Moderated by
Jake Kinzey, NYC DoE | United Federation of Teachers
WHERE
KJCC (NYU) Washington Square, NYC
WHEN
Friday, May 30, 2025
Doors open at 6:30
Panel discussion from 7–8:15
Pizza & snack 8:15–8:30
Townhall from 8:30–9:30